The Seer (57 page)

Mistral turned
to stare in disbelief at Cain while he continued to reel off a list banning her
from every enjoyable part of her life.

‘– no
Contracts involving physical work, absolutely no duelling or sword work of any
kind, no longbow work, no hunting –’

‘Come off it
Cain!’  Mistral exploded.  ‘Now you’re just being vindictive! 
I’ll shove your damned tooth back in if it’ll put you in a better mood! 
You can’t ban me from hunting!  What’ve I got left to do?  Clean tack
and take up knitting?’

‘And do try to
control your temper.  It’s not good for your blood pressure.’  Cain
finished with an admonishing look. 

‘You know what
you can do with your instructions don’t you?’  Mistral snarled.

‘Thank you
Cain, I will ensure that Mistral follows your advice.  She will have
complete rest from now on.’

Mistral
scowled murderously at Cain, as though it had been him speaking the words
sealing her in to a long and boring pregnancy and not Fabian, ‘I’ll see you
soon Cain,’ she promised darkly, watching him pick up his saddlebag and head
towards the door. 

‘Yes you will
Mistral, every month in fact.  And, don’t forget your promise –’ 

The sharp
reminder about her swearing on Saul’s memory instantly made her felt guilty for
snapping at her brother; he was only doing his job after all.  Sighing
discontentedly she threw herself onto the sofa and looked sulkily at
Fabian.  ‘So how was Leo?’  she asked, more out of a desire to change
the subject than any real interest.

Fabian gave
her a half-smile, ‘Weren’t you listening?’

Mistral shook
her head, ‘Fed up with eavesdropping.  It was nice to sit in The Cloak and
hear real voices for a change.  Good old honest lies and tall-tales.’

‘Then I have
quite a lot to tell you.’  Fabian walked over to sit down beside
her. 

She curled up
beneath his arm, her bad mood instantly evaporating, ‘Tell away,’ she sighed
happily.

‘Well, first of
all I should tell you that Eximius has accepted Leo’s offer to use the Valley
for any meetings he feels require your services –’

Mistral looked
up at him with raised eyebrows, ‘Is that good news, or bad?’

Fabian smiled
briefly, ‘That all depends on the next piece of information I was about to tell
you –’

‘Sorry.’
 Mistral smiled and rested her head back against his chest.  ‘Phantom
moans that I interrupt him all the time too.’

Fabian laughed
softly and Mistral’s smile broadened.  She hadn’t heard him laugh for
days.

‘I agree that
it could be construed as good news for Malachi and therefore bad news for Leo
when the news spreads that he has opened the Valley up to the Council for their
meetings, however  that might not have to be the case –’  Fabian
paused and looked at Mistral, dark eyes glinting with excitement.

‘What?’ 
she demanded in annoyance at being teased.

‘Leo has come
up with quite a good plan for reversing the ill-feeling that Mage Grapple’s
presence in the Valley might generate.  Would you care to guess what it
is?’

‘Just tell me
Fabian!  Remember that Cain said I shouldn’t lose my temper –’

‘Of course.’
 Fabian was mockingly contrite.  ‘Although I think you are confusing
your sense of humour with your temper –’

‘Are you
really the same Fabian that has barely spoken during the last couple of
days?’  Mistral sat up and glared at him. 

The light of
humour immediately faded from his eyes, leaving them bleak and cold once
more.  Mistral instantly regretted her petulant outburst and wrapped her
arms around him, burying her face into his neck.

‘Sorry,’ she
whispered against his skin.  ‘Blame it on the hormones, plus I’m really
cross with Cain for having the audacity to ban me from everything that I
enjoy.’

‘Everything?’ 
He enquired softly.

‘Well, no. 
I can still eat roast boar, until he finds a reason to stop me from that too
that is; and there’s you – ’

‘Ah, finally
remembered about me did you?’  He murmured and stroked a finger slowly
down her neck, tracing the line of her collar bone and down into the open neck
of her shirt.  

She lifted her
head to give him a smouldering look, ‘You never leave my mind Fabian De
Winter.’

The sound of
the door opening made them both jump.  Oblivious to the charged atmosphere
in the room the twins strolled in, shaking off rain-soaked cloaks and
complaining loudly about the weather.

‘Seriously,
I’m completely drenched!  And I’ve only walked from The Cloak!  I’m
not looking forward to leaving for that Contract at the Council tomorrow.’
 Phantom grumbled and turfed Eloise out of one of the armchairs by the
fire.  The kitten gave him a reproachful look then wandered over to curl
up between Prospero’s paws in front of the fire.

‘I doubt
you’ll be going anywhere now brother.’  Mistral said smugly.  ‘I
certainly won’t anyway.’

Phantasm
walked in from the kitchen with a pitcher of wine in his hands and an anxious
expression on his face, ‘Oh, why?’

‘Know
something we don’t?’  Phantom asked quickly. 

‘No brother,
you haven’t been sacked!’  Mistral laughed.  ‘And I can’t believe
you’d even think that!’

‘It happens.’
 Phantom scowled defensively.  ‘That warrior we met at the Divinus’
funeral that could speak about fifty different languages got sacked last week
for deliberate misinterpretation.  Apparently he got bored during one
Council meeting too many and decided to have a little joke at the expense of
one of the foreign delegates!’

‘Tragic, but
can we get back to why we won’t be leaving tomorrow please?’  Phantasm cut
in impatiently.

‘Mage Grapple
has agreed to hold any meetings he wants me to attend here, in the
Valley.  And as that Contract you’re meant to be going on tomorrow was
also on my list of scheduled meetings it looks like we’ll all be staying here.’

The twins gave
the same mixed reaction as she had to the news.

‘This is not
going to go down well with the rest of the warriors.’  Phantasm
frowned.  ‘I fear that it won’t do Master Sphinx’s popularity many
favours.’

‘Who
cares!’  Phantom said brightly.  ‘I’m not going to spend three nights
soaked to the skin shivering around a non-existent campfire!’

‘Who
cares?  Anyone that doesn’t want Master Nox as the next Divinus!’

‘Oh it won’t
come to that.’  Phantom said airily.  ‘Master Nox is about as popular
as a contagious disease round here.’

‘Nice analogy
brother, but I think you might be mistaken,’ snapped Phantasm.  ‘Mage
Grapple is the one with a dire level of popularity amongst the Ri, and Master
Nox will be sure to capitalise on the fact that he’s here on Master Sphinx’s
specific invite!’

‘Can I stop
you both there?’  Mistral cut across their bickering in a sharp
voice.  ‘Only I think that Fabian was about to tell me something about how
Leo could turn this whole thing around when you two ... er … came back,’ she
finished quickly and ducked her head to hide her red cheeks.  She’d been
about to say “interrupted us”.

‘I do
apologise for my brother’s behaviour, Mage De Winter, please … continue.’
 Phantasm said smoothly and sat down in the armchair opposite his twin,
ignoring the seething looks Phantom was giving him.

Fabian smiled
and lifted a lock of Mistral’s hair, curling it lazily through his fingers,
‘Tell me Mistral, what do warriors enjoy doing the most?’

Mistral rolled
her eyes.  She didn’t know what was worse, Fabian brooding silently over
his guilt or Fabian in an annoyingly good mood.  Not feeling up to playing
games, Mistral simply listened to his thoughts instead.  She suddenly sat
with a gasp.  ‘Now that is a fantastic idea!  I can’t believe Leo
came up with it!’

Fabian smiled
at her excitement, ‘I’m glad you approve.’

‘Did you have
something to do with this?’ 

Fabian merely
looked smug, an expression he wore so rarely that Mistral couldn’t help but
laugh. 

‘I hate it
when you do this!’  Phantom exclaimed irritably.

Mistral
smirked at him and nestled back into Fabian’s arms, ‘Oh now brother, play the
game.  What do warriors like doing more than anything?’

‘Spending
money in The Cloak.’  Phantom replied promptly.  ‘Actually no, let me
revise that, spending someone else’s money in The Cloak.’

‘Not
quite.  Want a clue?’ 

‘No!’
 Phantom snapped and narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.  ‘Gambling?’

‘Really
brother, I can’t see Master Sphinx trying to gain popularity by organising a
gambling tournament!’  Phantasm scoffed.

‘Actually,
he’s not too far off the mark.’  Mistral smiled.  ‘The clue’s in the
word “tournament”.’

Phantasm
looked incredulous, ‘Master Sphinx is going to organise a tournament to gain
popularity amongst the warriors?  Isn’t that a bit, well, blatant?’

‘Definitely.’ 
Phantom rolled his eyes.  ‘What’s the prize ... no don’t tell me,’ he held
a hand up wearily.  ‘Is it ... money?’

‘Ultimately,
yes.’  Fabian sat up a little straighter; indicating that the time for
playing games was over, ‘The winners of the tournament will be awarded the
Contract to drive the herd of unicorns to their new home in the Dawn
Forests.  Leo has set the Contract value himself at three hundred gold
coins.’

Phantom let
out a low whistle, ‘That’s a lot of gold!’

‘And a once in
a lifetime Contract too.  The warriors who win the Contract will have
their names recorded in the history books.’

‘Well, well,
the lion is finally fighting back!’  Phantasm looked impressed. 
‘Tournament, adventure, money and glory; all the things warriors love.’  

‘So what will
this tournament involve then?  It’s not going to be a like The Festival of
the Arcane is it?’  Phantom asked worriedly.

‘No, although
confess the idea was originally inspired by The Festival.  This tournament
will be held over the course of a single day and will involve a series of challenges
designed to test the warriors’ riding skills.  This Contract is, after
all, to safely move a rather wilful herd of unicorns half-way across the
Isle.  The successful warriors must have excellent horsemanship, be able
to deal with any attempts to steal or hunt the herd along the way, and have the
necessary survival skills to live out in the open during the journey.’

‘Sounds
amazing doesn’t it?’  Mistral looked at the twins with shining eyes.

‘Not really.’
 Phantom replied flatly.  ‘I had a near miss with one of those
foul-tempered ponies this morning!  Spending the best part of a fortnight
in their company is not high on my list of things I want to accomplish in my
life.’

Mistral and
Fabian laughed but Phantasm frowned, ‘Forgive me, but you said “warriors”, did
you not Mage De Winter?’

‘That is
correct.  The Contract is for three warriors.’

‘Huh!’ 
Phantom gave a disdainful snort.  ‘That reduces the Contract value
considerably!’ 

‘Not
really.  The Contract value is per warrior.’

Phantom gave
his brother a meaningful look, ‘I think it’s time we brushed up on our riding
skills!’ 

‘Too little
too late brothers!  You’ll both be eating the mud thrown up by Cirrus’
hooves!’

‘No, they will
not Mistral.’  Fabian gave her a hard look.  ‘Or have you already
forgotten Cain’s instructions?’

Mistral’s face
fell, ‘You can’t make me miss out on this!  It’ll be the best thing that’s
happened in the Valley for ages!’

‘You won’t
miss out, I promise.’ 

Mistral gave
him dubious look, ‘Really?’

‘Of course
not!  How can I ever hope to win without you cheering me on?’

‘I don’t
believe it!’  Mistral cried.  ‘You’re entering, but you won’t let
me?’

‘I’m not
carrying our child.’  Fabian pointed out reasonably.

‘More’s the
pity.’  Mistral slumped back against him in defeat.  ‘I suppose this
means you’ll be leaving me to go jaunting across the Isle then?’

‘I won’t be
leaving you Mistral, just earning us three hundred gold coins.  And I have
yet to compete, never mind win.’

Seeing her
despondent expression Phantasm smiled, ‘You can stay here with us
Mistral.  I’m sure we’ll be outridden before the first event is
over.  Some of those warriors ride like they were born in the saddle.’

‘Like I can
you mean.’  Mistral muttered moodily.

‘Well,
yes.  But let’s face it.  If you won this Contract on top of having
already taken the Ten Year Cull and the Unicorn Contract, I think you’d
actually be so unpopular that you’d no longer get served in The Cloak.’

‘Like that’d
make a difference to me at the moment!’

The twins
regarded her sour face. 

‘I know you’ve
missed her, but perhaps we should rethink that invite if she’s going to have a
face like that.’  Phantom whispered quickly.

Fabian looked
at Mistral, ‘Actually, that brings me around to something I wished to discuss
with you, alone –’

The twins
immediately took the hint and rose to their feet, muttering something about
cooking dinner.

Mistral sat up
and looked at Fabian, ‘Why are you thinking about the village?’

‘Because I
want to show you a house I’ve rented for us, just while you are pregnant.’

‘But I love
our home!  I don’t want to live anywhere else!’

Fabian smiled
and reached up to smooth the creases from her brow, ‘We will still live at
home, this would just be somewhere convenient to stay when it’s too late to
travel.’

‘Here is
convenient.’  Mistral protested, indicating to the twins’ snug house.

‘Allow me to
clarify.  Convenient and private.’

Mistral’s
mouth formed a silent “oh” then she grinned, ‘Show me the house then,’ she leaned
back against him to listen to his thoughts.  ‘I like the view of the
forests from the small bedroom,’ she said dreamily and stared unseeingly into
the fire.